Judith Ortiz Cofer Analysis

Being an African-American female I have been faced with many obstacles in life. These obstacles have consisted of being faced with stereotypes because of my gender and race. Despite these challenges I have learned to always embrace my ethnicity and culture, and use these stereotypes as motivation to not only better myself as a person, but to prove those who doubted me wrong.

Stereotypes and discrimination have been in our society since this country’s founding. In our current society, many of these stereotypes are projected through movies. In the article “Whistling Vivaldi” Steele makes frequent comments about the differences between black and whites stating if you are any color other than white you are in fact less intelligent (2). This is the core problem, in our day to day lives, stereotypes get thrown around like they are facts, without any questions involved. Wither you are white, Black, or Hispanic, we all function the same on the inside.

In all of the four interviews that are with Judith Ortiz Cofer, I thought there were some important things or I feel that I can relate to what she stated. In the interview “Speaking in Puerto Rican” reported by Rafael Ocasio, Cofer was told that her grandmother was one of her influences in her life. Cofer agreed with Ocasio and she went into saying that she would sit by her grandmother while her grandmother told her stories. I can relate somewhat to it because I didn’t sit around my grandmother while she told me stories, but my grandmother influenced me to succeed in something that I love to do. In the interview “The Art of Not Forgetting” reported by Marilyn Kallet, Cofer was asked why is “not forgetting” so important to you as a writer? Cofer

In 1952 Judith Ortiz Cofer was born in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, a small municipality with the population around 16,000. At the age of four she and her family moved to Paterson, New Jersey. She went on to spend most of her childhood commuting back and forth between Puerto Rico and Paterson, receiving education in both places. These moves were made due to her father, J.M. Ortiz Cofer and his work in the Brooklyn Navy yard. Coming to America was hard on her family as it was a new place with many new things to get accustomed to. After living in Paterson for some time, the family moved to Augusta, Georgia where she would attend high school and pursue her writing work.

Judith Ortiz Cofer might have been destined over Hormigueros, An residential community in Puerto rico. When she might have been an adolescent youngster her father’s military vocation took the crew on Paterson, new Jersey, Anyway she often went through her adolescence going over and over again between Puerto rico and the what's to come for U. Encountered with urban decay because of deindustrialization, innovation developed, government lodgin. At 15, her crew moved again, this period should Augusta, Georgia, the place she in the end earned a ba for english from augusta school. She after the fact earned a mama to english from florida atlantic school What's more completed graduate fill in In oxford college.

Reality television contains fictional aspects that allow producers to manipulate situations that appear to be “real” on screen. In order to keep their characters interesting and easily recognizable throughout the season, a show must clearly establish heroes, villains and supporting characters to keep their audience coming back for more (Tyree, 2011, p. 395). This involves the heavy use of racial stereotypes in their shows because it allows for quick character development as well as cheap entertainment. The way a particular race or culture is represented on reality television can adversely affect the way society views that

It is common knowledge that the topic of race is being examined all over the world. Frequently, more efforts are made through formation of policies, enactment of laws, and abolition of practices to obliterate racial discrimination. The pace of success of this endeavor is being delayed by the media because the media constantly portrays race in an inappropriate and derogatory manner. A race as described by Yolanda. T. Moses is a group of people who share similar and unique characteristics, while racial stereotypes are automatic and mental pictures held about all members of a particular social group. When people are stereotyped racially, they do not take into account individual differences .The media’s poor understanding of the true meaning of race has been communicated to the general public, making people think race is a biological phenomenon whereas it is socially and culturally constructed (Moses 735) and this has caused the increase in racial stereotypes by media’s continuous portrayal of negative stereotypes of different races all over the world.

In the three Buzzfeed videos, “If Black People Said Stuff White People Say”, “If Asians Said Stuff White People Say”, and “If Latinos Said Stuff White People Say”, the producers acknowledged the many stereotypes that “white” people have given these races and reversed them onto whites to show how silly they sound. I chose to reflect on the video “If Black People Said Stuff White People Say” because it was the easiest to connect with. One of the main factors that affects the selection of the information given by the people is noticeably discernably visible traits of a race. In black people’s case, the person who is stereotyping them first sees their color of skin and immediately forms an opinion of how they behave talk and appear. One example

During the 20th Century, it can be noted that minorities have made significant strides in securing their dreams and reaching equality in America. The advances such as the right to own land and the right to vote has defined America to be the “land of opportunity”. Despite the political advances obtained, minorities still suffer from the racist beliefs that have also been ingrained into American society. Although it has been long since these bigoted practices have been upheld by the law, it could be argued that supremacist ideologies and derogatory stereotypes are still seen in the entertainment industry. Historically, the portrayal of minorities, especially African Americans, has been less ideal.

The dangers of these stereotypes are clear. Stereotyping can lead to depression, a loss of self-meaning, and even a subservience to these stereotypes, which only enforces them. These moral distortions of stereotyping are one of the evils plaguing modern-day society. In his essay “Stereotypes and Stereotyping: A Moral Analysis”, Lawrence Blum states that stereotypes are “rigid false generalizations (Blum 265).” The rigidity of these stereotypes forces many to stay consistent with those

America is a country that lives by the claim that it embraces individuals from all racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds i.e. a "melting pot"; however, this claim is partially true. In our country, there is a clear but indirect distinction between both the majority and minority. In some aspects, the majority is viewed as more significant than minorities. Minorities on the opposing end are often portrayed in the media in a negative manner. An example of this variation can often be found in various films through the use of “black face.”

Or have you even thought about how race is portrayed in the media? What is racism? According to our text Think Race and Ethnicity by Mona Scott, racism “is systematic, oppressive treatment based on racial group membership and the belief, behaviors, institutional organization, or attitudes that favor one group over another” in today’s world racism is a major issue and impacts every race on various levels but in particular minorities. A great article written by Robert Anthony A Challenge to Critical Understanding of Race says that “in order to move sociological understanding of race forward is for people to refine their knowledge of the mechanisms responsible for generating the illusion of “race,” so if the media was to redefine the social understanding of racism such tool could be power for achieving equality within American society for minorities. The media has a major influence on racism and affects us on many levels. The way races are viewed and portrayed in today’s society simply can’t be brushed to the side. This paper will examine how various races are represented within the media while taking a deeper look at whether stereotypes of other races are exploited in the name of

Stereotypes are loaded with derogatory associations, suggesting inferiority, irresponsibility, immorality, and non-humanness (Perry, 2014, pg. 76). They provide both motive and rationale for injurious verbal and physical assaults on minority groups (Perry, 2014, pg. 76). Acting upon these interpretations allows dominant group members to recreate whiteness as superiority, while punishing the Other for their

Racial and gender stereotypes are vague assumptions that are generally negative in the novel, Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins. They are false beliefs abstracted by judgmental people based on a person’s gender or ethnicity. Each person has their respective thoughts, ambitions and passions despite their gender or race. These stereotypes are ignorant and do not define every single person. Most people realize that stereotypes are inaccurate, however they continue to make presumptions based on ethnicity or gender. The author of Forbidden, challenges racial and gender stereotypes by explaining how they are only crude generalizations which cause disruptions in society because of people’s belief that as long as they exist that they must follow them.

Today the relationship between the media and ethnic minorities is typically characterized by continuity, conflict and change. As the televisions convey contending ethnic and racial images, the definition of race, racism and ethnicity are continuingly struggling for public recognition. These terms and their corresponding theoretical frameworks have provide the audience to think through some of the most fundamental categories distinctions and discriminatory process that people have yet produced for themselves and with which or in relation to which, many of us conduct our lives and construct a sense of who we are, where we belong and what we want to be. Approached through